Always On: Torture-testing the new Kindle Fire HD

Always On: Torture-testing the new Kindle Fire HD

7:19 /
October 9, 2012

Amazon updated its Kindle Fire line, but can the new 7-inch Kindle Fire HD stand up to the Always On battery of torture tests?

-Alright, we have here the brand new kindle Fire HD.
7-inch tablet and it's going through the torture test.
We are starting with the cold test.
2 hours in the freezer.
Alrighty.
That is a big 7-inch tablet.
See ya.
Time to rescue the Kindle Fire HD 7-inch from the freezer.
Alrighty.
How are you doin'?
Nice and cold.
The real trick here is for me to remember where the power button is.
That's where I always get wrong.
I end up doing the drop test by accident.
There we go.
Let's see.
Ooh!
Uh-oh!
No immediate response to power.
Kind of nothing happening here so far.
So, we will let it thaw for a little while and charge.
Maybe the battery died in there.
We know that can happen and see if it recovers.
Kindle Fire HD gave us a little bit of a scare, but after I thawed it and charged it for just a few minutes, a little less than 5 minutes, it came back on.
I think though that it just didn't like the cold because it is not all the way to the bottom of the charge and I only charged it for maybe 3 minutes.
I think it just wanted to be warm, but it's okay.
Wrap it up a little bit here.
Okay.
My Kindle Fire is done.
Ooh.
It definitely have some plastic smell here.
That is hot.
The smell of burning components.
This show is gonna kill me.
I don't think I could sue somebody.
It was all my idea.
Okay, let's see here.
We have no obvious damage so unlike some of our recent gadgets, well, it looks like it is pulling away a tiny bit.
So, we do have a little bit of separation at the seams here from that heat.
It's not very dramatic, but it is there just on that one side especially compared to this side.
You can see it looks a little bit different.
Ooh, it comes on.
Ooh.
You can-- Ooh-- it changed its mind.
Good idea.
Alright, we'll let this cool for a little bit and see how it is doing.
The Kindle Fire HD is all cooled off.
Let's see how it's feeling.
It looks like it actually shut itself all the way down after I tried to turn it on while it was still really hot.
Okay.
Back to life.
It seems to be okay.
Kindle seems to be okay.
It's okay.
Alright.
We're just gonna head outside a do a little reading.
I've got my hands kind of full and oh-- oh-- Kindle hand cramp, too big to hold.
Oh-- uh-- Alright, let's see how we're doing here.
I might as well scrape it all in the pavement when I pick it up too just to add insult to injury.
Actually though, this thing is in good shape.
I don't really see any scratches or anything major on the back.
The front is fine.
A little scuffing here, some kind of nicks, but I gotta say that-- that's not a major damage.
It's pretty tough.
Maybe we should just try the concrete.
Ooh.
It's so heavy.
It's really dramatic although once again even despite some skidding we do have a little bit more scratchage on the back here.
Scratchage, that's an official-- always on term.
One more nick, but overall I gotta say this thing is-- is pretty tough.
I'm surprised.
It's still fine after the drop.
Oh, I need some cookie.
Oh no!
Uh-oh, what a mess.
That's terrible.
What am I gonna do?
Oh, I know!
I have an idea.
There's some lights.
It's gonna be okay, Kindle.
Okay.
It's cleaned.
Probably dry it off a little now, I guess.
Oh wait, the back still has some soda on it.
Okay.
All better.
Ooh, my screen is still on.
Let's see here.
Look at that.
The cookie is ruined, but the Kindle seems okay.
I'll give it the rice treatment just in case.
Time to check on our Kindle Fire HD.
It's been in this bag of rice for 36 hours since we spilled soda on it and hosed it down.
That was a fun day.
Let's see how it is doing though.
Okay.
Moment of truth.
It comes right on.
I mean, it came right on.
Wow!
Screen seems totally fine.
Carousel moving.
Looks going still pretty responsive.
Huh, alright, I'm gonna have to call that one a pass.
Now, the Kindle Fire HD sailed through our regular battery of torture test, but we just couldn't come up with the perfect wild card idea, so please e-mail me some ideas, alwayson@cnet.com, and we will revisit this at a later date.
In the meantime, maybe I'll use it.
Try getting used to holding it.